Younger shook his head in disgust. “Just because Hilary Allenwood chose not to put that part in her story doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. Do you honestly believe Ms. Talcott just grabbed a skateboard—from where would that appear do you think? And then Ms. Talcott took that skateboard and just randomly attacked the crowd.”
“People have done stranger things when they’re stressed out and on drugs,” Caprico said loftily. He was scribbling things on a little pad of paper he’d pulled out of his pocket. “So, Ms. Talcott, would you like to just save us all some time and make a confession?”
“No, she would not!” Younger shouted the words. He was disgusted with what he was seeing. “And unless you’re actually going to charge Ms. Talcott with a crime, you need to get out of here before I call the chief and have you written up for denying Ms. Talcott any semblance of her civil rights! And you,” Younger turned to Dr. Williams, “I don’t know what your problem is but last night you weren’t interested at all in the idea that Ms. Talcott had been drugged and now you’re just assuming she’s a regular cocaine user even though she has none of the signs of drug abuse and has no history of substance abuse either! What is wrong with you people? You want to find out if she’s a regular user? Get a freaking hair sample and check!”
The hospital room was utterly silent after Younger’s tirade. He felt rather embarrassed by his behavior, but at the same time he could not stand it when he saw someone like Laurie Talcott getting swept up into what was obviously a web of lies that made no sense and had even less in the way of validity.
Dr. Williams was the first to come back to the moment with his powers of speech. He shifted from foot to foot and fiddled with the pens in the pocket of his lab coat. “Right. So, I will order a hair sample to be sent to the lab. They can determine how long Ms. Talcott has been using cocaine.”
“Uh huh, you do that.” Funny, but there was absolutely no doubt in Younger’s mind about Laurie Talcott and drug usage. The woman just wasn’t the kind to turn to drugs. “And how about releasing Ms. Talcott right after that. I’ve heard that you released the man who was supposedly her victim already this morning. If Dwayne Robards was just fine and ready to go home and not pressing charges—because I think our friend Sergeant Caprico would have said if he was—then it’s time to stop holding Ms. Talcott here in the hospital just because the police are scrambling to find a way to charge her with something.”
Younger waited. Dr. Williams kept his gaze on the chart in his hands as he scribbled a few notes. Then he nodded and started to leave. Sergeant Caprico made to follow him. But Younger didn’t like the way the two men seemed so chummy. It was time to remind Dr. Williams that he was not at the beck and call of the police. He had to answer to a higher authority.
“I’m assuming the hospital is planning to charge Ms. Talcott’s health insurance company for this stay in the hospital, correct?” Younger called after Dr. Williams.
Williams paused in the doorway.
Younger kept right on talking. He wanted the good doctor to fully realize what he was playing with here. “So, you probably wouldn’t want to give them any reason to start investigating fraudulent medical coding right? You know, because you had little to no reason to keep Ms. Talcott overnight and are now keeping her here against her will on her insurance company’s dime. I’m pretty sure those insurance companies get pissed about that. But I don’t think the police department is going to foot the bill, and it will be a cold day in Hell before anyone makes Ms. Talcott pay for your decision to hold her hostage.”
“I get the point, Mr. Adair,” Dr. Williams called over his shoulder. “I’ll start the paperwork and as soon as we get the hair sample, then Ms. Talcott is free to go.”
Younger gave a hard nod. Then he turned and looked at Laurie. Her lips were parted and she looked as though she’d just seen a ghost.
“What’s wrong?”
“You don’t have to do—well you don’t have to do all of that. I just don’t want you to think that I expect you to fight all of my battles for me.” She looked embarrassed.
Younger could understand her reaction. He’d have been furious if someone had been trying to do the same for him. But still, she needed help. That much was obvious.
“I know you’re capable. But right now, you’re starting with a deficit and that’s just not fair. I think that’s my point. You know? How are you supposed to argue with the police when you don’t know all the facts?”
“I’m not trying to be ungrateful,” she told him softly. “I just wanted to thank you and make you realize that I do understand you don’t have to do anything.”
Younger sat on the edge of the bed once again. He stared down at her and tried to figure out what it was about her that got to him. Her strange kind of toughness and vulnerability? The fact that she had been so hard pressed by a man like Josh Bentley to believe his bullshit? She was tougher than he’d imagined and yet she did have a good heart.
“I know you’re not ungrateful,” Younger murmured. He reached out and tucked a stray strand of her dark hair behind her ear. He’d rarely seen her hair in any kind of disarray, but this morning after what had probably been a restless night in the hospital, she was mussed. “I’m just trying to figure out why you are so confident one second and so timid the next. It’s baffling I guess. Or maybe intriguing.”
“Great, so I’m a little puzzle you want to figure out. Then when you do and you realize I’m not all that interesting, you’ll go onto the next curiosity.” She pressed her lips into a tight line and looked down at her hands.
“No.” He gently put the side of his index finger beneath her chin to make her look up at him. “It’s not like that at all. I’m not one of those people looking to figure someone out and then stuff them into a tidy little box and move onto the next subject. I don’t usually have that much of an interest in people in general.”
“Then why me? Am I that much of a disaster?” She bit her lip and for a moment that timidity was back and Younger felt such a strong urge to stuff her in his pocket that he almost couldn’t stand it.
“No. You’re not a disaster,” Younger told her quietly. He took her hand and gave it a squeeze. “I just have a feeling that you got targeted by someone looking to exploit your better qualities for their own personal gain. It’s one of my pet peeves I think. I get really sick and tired of people preying on other people. How are we supposed to treat others with respect when they just take that respect and beat us about the head with it?”
Chapter Eighteen
It was really difficult to get out of the car that night and just walk through the parking lot on her way to the Landing. It was crowded. But then, it was a Friday night. Laurie had only been released from the hospital a few hours ago. She’d gone home to shower and try to relax a little bit, but it had been nearly impossible. Her mind kept throwing up very strange images from the night before. It was like she could not remember exactly what had happened and her brain had built a sort of sequence of events using bits and pieces of recollection that she’d either heard or read. The results were not great.
But now Laurie was back. She told herself that what had happened was behind her and it was time for her to get in there and make sure that her employees knew that she was in charge. With that in mind, she marched right up the steps from the larger of the two parking lots to the promenade. And that was when she spotted the first thing that was not right.
“Hold up there, Ms. Talcott.”
Ray was not actually a regular employee of the Branson Landing security team. He was an extra that they sometimes called on during the holiday season for things like Black Friday or the day after Christmas when the Landing was open extended hours and they needed every hand on deck.
Laurie frowned at Ray and then turned and looked at the other side of the Landing’s entrance. There were two more security guards over there. Each one wore a striped neon yellow and orange guard jacket that looked as though they’d been purchased for a road construction cr
ew.
“What’s going on, Ray?” Laurie tried not to snap at the young man. After all, he probably had no idea what was going on. “I wouldn’t expect to see you here on a regular summer Friday.”
“Yeah, I was a bit surprised to get the call too.” Ray only shrugged. He was still holding his hand up as though he were actually thinking about preventing her from going to her office. “But when Josh called and offered me extra hours, I figured why not.”
“And you guys are what? Just patrolling the exits?” Laurie was curious. This was what Josh had wanted to do from the beginning. Patrol all of the exits and entrances and just stop anyone who looked suspicious while actively keeping out anyone on a skateboard, roller blades, or bicycle. Laurie had refused.
“Yep.” Ray glanced over at the other guy on duty. He was busy chatting up a busty blonde. Perfect. This was so effective. Ray cleared his throat. “But I have to say, Ms. Talcott, Josh told us not to let you into the mall. He said you’re suspended without pay until further notice.”
“I see,” Laurie murmured. “That’s so odd, Ray. I just spoke to my boss less than forty-five minutes ago and explained the entire situation. She told me that while they are going to participate in the police investigation, they have decided to retain additional assets from Rock Wolf Investigations in order to perform an independent investigation of what’s going on at this mall.”
“Huh?” Ray was obviously confused. Laurie figured that was probably an honest reaction. Ray did not have enough loyalty to Josh to actually go against anything Laurie might say. “So, you’re not suspended?”
“Not as of twenty minutes ago when I got off the phone with my boss,” Laurie explained. “So, how about you turn right around and go back to your patrol and I’m going to go to my office and eventually I’m going to see Josh and then he and I can discuss what’s going to happen.”
“Oh. Okay.” Ray gave a shrug and stepped aside. “Good luck with all of this, Ms. Talcott. It seems kind of messy.”
“Oh, believe me, Ray,” Laurie said darkly, “it is a mess.”
And it was a mess. A total mess. Laurie could not believe what she was hearing. Did Josh honestly think she was too weak-minded and stupid to call her own boss and discuss this situation? Did he think he somehow had the whole operation under his finger? Or was he just betting on the fact that Laurie would be too timid to ask and that Josh could tell the employees whatever he wanted to just to get them to obey? It had worked. For a minute anyway.
Laurie marched to her office. She spotted four more security teams standing guard over every possible entrance and exit on or off the promenade. It looked like airport security. The entire tone of the place had changed. The employees inside the stores looked tense. The shoppers looked even edgier. All of a sudden, Laurie felt awful for letting it all come to this. This was supposed to be a fun, family-friendly shopping place where people could bring their kids to watch a fire and water show or get ice cream or buy grandma something special for her birthday. It was a place to gather, not a place that was under military occupation to make sure a bunch of teenaged lowlifes behaved themselves.
The office was cool and quiet inside. The seven o’clock show would have just started down in the central courtyard and Laurie was glad; it meant everyone would be having fun with the show and their families. The security officers were occupied, which meant Laurie could attempt to decipher what had happened to her office all within the span of twenty-four hours.
Her desk was clear. Not just clear. It was immaculate. Every piece of paper and every pen had been put away. Her name sign was gone too and Josh Bentley’s had been put in its place. He had evidently decided that moving his shit without permission into her spot would somehow gain him credibility with the lower ranking men who worked for them. And to some extent, this was true. It had obviously worked with Ray.
Next, Laurie went to her computer. She could tell that someone had been trying to get onto her account. It was locked thanks to too many efforts at her password. She was going to have to call corporate and get it unlocked through their IT department. So, at least Josh hadn’t been able to read her email. That meant he didn’t know that Laurie had just spoken with her boss Elena MacGuinn. Elena was supposed to send Laurie a bunch of information via email and that included information on Josh Bentley that Laurie had never paid any attention to before.
The bell above the door jingled and Josh Bentley strode into the office. Laurie did not bother to turn around. In fact, she kept her back to him and sat down at her desk. She made a point of pushing his nameplate off the desk and onto the floor. Josh ran to catch it, but wasn’t quite quick enough.
“Hey! That’s rude as hell, woman. What do you think you’re doing?”
“Honestly?” Laurie sat in her chair and spun it around to face him. “I’m trying to figure out why you’ve stolen my desk when I was gone for less than twenty-four hours!”
“You’re suspended,” Josh said flatly. “I’m sorry that you didn’t get the message, but it’s completely done and over with. No need to call anyone about it. I’ll let you know when things progress. So, since you’re so overwhelmed and stressed out, maybe you should just go home and rest.”
Laurie stared at him for a moment. She was trying to figure out whether or not he actually believed what he was saying. He obviously assumed she was going to just take him at his word regardless of the logic behind checking into something like that on her own.
“That’s so odd,” Laurie said slowly. She made no effort to get up out of her desk chair and instead, she used her foot to turn herself slightly to the left.
Josh looked irritated. “What’s odd? You freaked out and attacked a man yesterday, Laurie. That’s got consequences.”
“Agreed.” Laurie wasn’t going to argue with him. “But Elena didn’t say a word about my being suspended when we talked on the phone less than an hour ago. We chatted about what happened. We talked about the private investigation going on. We talked about strategies.” Laurie intentionally did not expand on that for Josh. “And I asked her for some additional information that I was lacking. But at no time did she say I was suspended. In fact, she told me to keep up the good work.”
“Bullshit!” Josh barked the word at Laurie as though he intended to force her to agree with him by sheer volume. “There is no way that you aren’t suspended.”
“But,” Laurie said, drawing out the word. Her heart was fluttering against her ribs and her palms were sweating. “You haven’t had any confirmation of this? Did you get an email from corporate? Did you get a phone call from Elena MacGuinn? Did you get any kind of anything that suggested you had somehow garnered the authority to come in here this morning and just kick me out of my desk?”
He sputtered. Josh actually sputtered. He started talking at least half a dozen times before he was able to get his words out. “Authority? Authority? How dare you? How dare you presume to talk to me that way? I don’t need anyone’s say so to do what’s right! I’m the one with the experience here, young lady! I’m the one who can make this place safe for the public once again! You have done nothing but ruin my efforts and you will not be allowed to continue.”
Laurie swallowed back the thick lump in her throat. She could not believe that Josh would speak to her this way. That anyone would speak to her this way. There were words bubbling up that needed to come out and yet she felt so tongue-tied by the insanity of this situation that she wasn’t entirely sure what to do. The words she was hearing could not actually be what he was saying. How could someone who was supposed to be her subordinate be talking to her this way? It didn’t even make sense. It was like being in a dream and being sure that it was real until she realized just how crazy it was.
“You need to back down right this minute,” Laurie told him in a firm voice. She tried to inject her words with as much conviction as possible, but it was difficult when she was faced with such bizarre behavior. “This is not the Army, Josh. It’s retail. And I’m the one with the
experience in retail.”
His face grew so angry and stormy that Laurie actually found herself wanting to back away from him. He was too close. How did she know he wasn’t going to try to grab her? But what else was she supposed to do? Call security? She was security!
“Josh, you are my subordinate. You are an employee of this company. You are not the boss. You have been making decisions that are completely inappropriate.” He was gearing up for a tantrum, she could tell. Laurie struggled with the need to get it all out before Josh blew a gasket. She had almost no hope of diffusing the situation. “I have always allowed you a lot of leeway when it comes to the way we choose to do things around here. I respect your knowledge. I do. But honestly? You’re out of line here and it needs to stop.”
“You are damn right this isn’t the Army!” Josh’s shout made the windows rattle and Laurie wanted to take cover. Her eardrums were crackling in protest. “If it was the Army, we wouldn’t have this sort of bullshit going on! You can’t even deal with a bunch of kids on skateboards! You are utterly incompetent and you refuse to listen to anyone who might be willing to help you become otherwise!”
Being called incompetent stung. Probably more than she would have liked to admit. Perhaps that’s why her mind and her pride collaborated on her next verbal assault. “Right. Because you’re so experienced in these matters, Josh. Let me tell you, if I ever need to buy a hundred cars and maintain them, you’ll be the first one I call. When it comes to managing the security of a retail complex full of civilians who do not want to feel like they’re shopping in a prison, I think I’ll trust my own judgment.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” He went from being aggressive to defensive so quickly that Laurie almost felt confused by the shift.
She frowned. “You were Colonel Motorpool in the Army, Josh. You were never deployed overseas. You don’t think we look up service records and keep them on file with the company?” This was a bit of a white lie. While this probably was corporate policy, Laurie had never actually seen Josh’s service record. She’d always just taken him at his word. Now, she was starting to think differently.
Rock Wolf Investigations: Boxset Page 61